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Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language

Received: 29 January 2021     Accepted: 16 February 2021     Published: 12 March 2021
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Abstract

The English loanwords entered into Lontómbá language have undergone some adaptation in both spelling and pronunciation. This adaptation needs to be explained in a scientific way. This article analyses 100 English loanwords that have been adapted in Lontómbá language at the graphophonic level so as to find out the rules that govern their adaptation in Lontómbá. To reach this purpose, the based-corpus approach is applied in the analysis of data with a focus on spelling of the original English loanwords and the way they are written and pronounced in Lontómbá language. To put it very clear, the analysis is mainly based on the graphs i.e. how letters are combined to produce one sound in English, and how the same letters are adapted in Lontómbá through the process of epenthesis. In this vein, one can understand that this article attempts to answer the question “are there any rules that govern the change in the spelling of graphs of English loanwords in Lontómbá language?” The analysis of data led to the following results: (1) no English word that enters Lontómbá language keeps its original form. That is to say, English words are adapted in Lontómbá by changing the spelling and pronunciation. (2) Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules. (3) Digraphs and trigraphs of English words are eliminated by the process of epenthesis. (4) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain the graphemes r and c (5) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain digraph vowels and digraph consonants. (6) English vowel graphemes are also adapted in Lontómbá language according to the way they are pronounced in English. (7) The consonant grapheme in English words c, g, and d that enter Lontómbá language are adapted by changing c into k or s, g into k, and d into t.

Published in Communication and Linguistics Studies (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13
Page(s) 13-20
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Epenthesis, Graph, Loanwords, Graphophonic Rules, Lontómbá, and Borrowing

References
[1] Kastronic, L. (2016). A Comparative Variationist Approach to Morphosyntactic Variation in Hexagonal and Quebec French. Ottawa: Univerityof Ottawa.
[2] Mamet M (1952), La Langue Ntomba, Tervuren, Bruxelles.
[3] Hoffer, B. L. (2002). Language borrowing: Overview in “Intercultural Communication Studies”. Trinity University.
[4] Beel, R. And Felder, J. (2013). Phonological Adaptations of English Loanwords in Turkish. Virginia: Liberty University.
[5] Besset, R. M. (2017). Exploring the Phonological Integration of Lone Other-Language Nouns in the Spanish of South Arizone in University of Pennsylvania Working Paper in Linguistics. Arizon: University of Arizona. Vol. 23. Issue 2 pp. 31-39.
[6] Mao, L. J. And Hulden, M. (2016). How Regular is Japanese Loanwords Adaptation? A Computational Study. Colorado: University of Colorado.
[7] Nagy, R. (2010). The Phonological Integration of Loanwords in Dutch. Budapest: Eötvös.
[8] Kenstowicz, M. (2005). The Phonetics and Phonology of Korean Loanword adaptation. Leiden: Leiden University.
[9] Aktürk-Drake, M. (2015). Phonological Adaptation Through Bilingual Borrowing: Comparing Elite Bilinguals and Heritage Bilinguals. Stockholm: Stockholm University.
[10] Akidah, (2013) Phonological And Semantic Change In Language Borrowing: The Case of Arabic words Borrowed into Kiswahili in “International Journal of Education and Research” Vol. 1 No. 4 April.
[11] Repetty, L. (2012). Consonant-Final Loanwords and Epenthetic Vowels in Italian in Catalian Journal of Linguistics. Online.
[12] Jaradat, M. M. (2019). Epenthesis in Jerash Fallaahi Dialect: An Autosegmental Analysis in International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Online.
[13] Diaz, M. A. L. (2014). Scaffolding Students’ Phonological Competence through the Integration of Pronunciation Learning Strategies.
[14] Gudia, M. N. A. (2016). Phonological Adaptation of English Loanwords in Ammani Arabic. Manchester: University of Salford.
[15] Murray, B. and Watson, T. (2018). Synthetic Phonics: Key Terms in “Sound Waves” ISBN 978 1 74135 351 8.
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  • APA Style

    Jean Paul Mola Mbeba. (2021). Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language. Communication and Linguistics Studies, 7(1), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13

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    ACS Style

    Jean Paul Mola Mbeba. Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language. Commun. Linguist. Stud. 2021, 7(1), 13-20. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13

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    AMA Style

    Jean Paul Mola Mbeba. Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language. Commun Linguist Stud. 2021;7(1):13-20. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13,
      author = {Jean Paul Mola Mbeba},
      title = {Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language},
      journal = {Communication and Linguistics Studies},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {13-20},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20210701.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cls.20210701.13},
      abstract = {The English loanwords entered into Lontómbá language have undergone some adaptation in both spelling and pronunciation. This adaptation needs to be explained in a scientific way. This article analyses 100 English loanwords that have been adapted in Lontómbá language at the graphophonic level so as to find out the rules that govern their adaptation in Lontómbá. To reach this purpose, the based-corpus approach is applied in the analysis of data with a focus on spelling of the original English loanwords and the way they are written and pronounced in Lontómbá language. To put it very clear, the analysis is mainly based on the graphs i.e. how letters are combined to produce one sound in English, and how the same letters are adapted in Lontómbá through the process of epenthesis. In this vein, one can understand that this article attempts to answer the question “are there any rules that govern the change in the spelling of graphs of English loanwords in Lontómbá language?” The analysis of data led to the following results: (1) no English word that enters Lontómbá language keeps its original form. That is to say, English words are adapted in Lontómbá by changing the spelling and pronunciation. (2) Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules. (3) Digraphs and trigraphs of English words are eliminated by the process of epenthesis. (4) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain the graphemes r and c (5) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain digraph vowels and digraph consonants. (6) English vowel graphemes are also adapted in Lontómbá language according to the way they are pronounced in English. (7) The consonant grapheme in English words c, g, and d that enter Lontómbá language are adapted by changing c into k or s, g into k, and d into t.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Graphophonic Rules Governing English Loanwords in Lontómbá Language
    AU  - Jean Paul Mola Mbeba
    Y1  - 2021/03/12
    PY  - 2021
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    T2  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    JF  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    JO  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    SP  - 13
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    AB  - The English loanwords entered into Lontómbá language have undergone some adaptation in both spelling and pronunciation. This adaptation needs to be explained in a scientific way. This article analyses 100 English loanwords that have been adapted in Lontómbá language at the graphophonic level so as to find out the rules that govern their adaptation in Lontómbá. To reach this purpose, the based-corpus approach is applied in the analysis of data with a focus on spelling of the original English loanwords and the way they are written and pronounced in Lontómbá language. To put it very clear, the analysis is mainly based on the graphs i.e. how letters are combined to produce one sound in English, and how the same letters are adapted in Lontómbá through the process of epenthesis. In this vein, one can understand that this article attempts to answer the question “are there any rules that govern the change in the spelling of graphs of English loanwords in Lontómbá language?” The analysis of data led to the following results: (1) no English word that enters Lontómbá language keeps its original form. That is to say, English words are adapted in Lontómbá by changing the spelling and pronunciation. (2) Each English loanword entering Lontómbá language must have a vowel grapheme ending by the following sub-rules. (3) Digraphs and trigraphs of English words are eliminated by the process of epenthesis. (4) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain the graphemes r and c (5) An English loanword adapted in Lontómbá should not contain digraph vowels and digraph consonants. (6) English vowel graphemes are also adapted in Lontómbá language according to the way they are pronounced in English. (7) The consonant grapheme in English words c, g, and d that enter Lontómbá language are adapted by changing c into k or s, g into k, and d into t.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of English Letters and Civilization, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa City, Democratic Republic of Congo

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